SISTER ACT Reviews

[LimelightMike]

Posted: 4/20/11 at 6:07am

Post 'em here!

[nexttotheheights]

Posted: 4/20/11 at 10:01am

We'll see, but I think it will get mixed to positive. And raves for Patina.

[Mattbrain]

Posted: 4/20/11 at 10:16am

Patina damn well better get those raves.

[uncageg]

Posted: 4/20/11 at 11:36am

For some reason I don't think she is going to get the raves people thinks she will. I could be wrong. I saw it last week and really enjoyed the show but didn't think she gave a Tony Worthy performance but then I didn't think Menzel did either and enjoyed "Wicked"

Just an aside...On The View this morning Whoopie said again that she does not plan to step into the show. She said she wants to keep acting and producing separate. She says she is planning to bring the Moms Mabley show to NY this summer sometime. I am really looking forward to that.

[TheatreFan4]

Posted: 4/20/11 at 12:13pm

How many more shows are we waiting on to open after this?

[uncageg]

Posted: 4/20/11 at 12:17pm

Baby It's You
Jeruslem
Born Yesterday
The Normal Heart

Did I miss any?

[WithoutATrace]

Posted: 4/20/11 at 12:20pm

I believe six more shows still need to open:

Jerusalem 4/21
Born Yesterday 4/24
House of Blue Leaves 4/25
Baby It's You 4/27
Normal Heart 4/27
People in the Picture 4/28

Break a leg, SISTER ACT! Updated On: 4/20/11 at 12:20 PM

[phantom39]

Posted: 4/20/11 at 12:24pm

Hoping for great reviews!! I'm sick of all these recent pans.

[uncageg]

Posted: 4/20/11 at 12:40pm

I forgot "People in the Picture" and "House of Blue Leaves" and I saw them both! (Loved "..Blue Leaves")

[Ed_Mottershead]

Posted: 4/20/11 at 2:33pm

"Hoping for great reviews!! I'm sick of all these recent pans."

I'd like everything to get a great review, but, in the vernacular of the gutter, If the foo s___ts, he's got to wear it."

[bwayfan7000]

Posted: 4/20/11 at 2:40pm

Keeping my fingers crossed that Patina gets the reviews she deserves.

[roadmixer]

Posted: 4/20/11 at 3:15pm

Where is goldenboy predicting once again that the reviews will be negative? Don't disappoint me now...

[roadmixer]

Posted: 4/20/11 at 3:17pm

LimelightMike - What's with the condensed initial post? Has this season been so busy that you've run out of steam? No "Today is April 20th and...." posting?

[goldenboy]

Posted: 4/20/11 at 3:18pm

Ah it is out of Goldenboy's hands.
It is up to the Theatre Critic Gods now!
Let the magic begin.

[roadmixer]

Posted: 4/20/11 at 3:23pm

I like to think that it's up to the ticket-buying public since ultimately it is they that will decide whether this or any other show is a hit. While critics have their place, a show shouldn't live or die at their hands.

[goldenboy]

Posted: 4/20/11 at 3:39pm

Believe it or not Road mixer...I agree with you.
The critics were not kind to Wicked but it is a well deserved hit. Wicked is successful on so many levels; music; performance; book; theme.

The Critics lambasted Promises Promises last year and it did fairly well. And I personally loved it.

Some of the critics did not take to Priscilla Queen of the desert but it is so much fun and the sheer spectacle so thrilling that word of mouth will prevail.

The very pedigreed and familiar name "Sister Act" The musical will give sister act a boost at the box office. It is good for families. Whoopi Goldberg - producer will give Sister Act a Boost on the View. All this Sister Act has going for it.


I do predict mixed to negative reviews because it does not improve on the movie in spite of the material being inherently musical; the music is a disappointment and sounds like derivitive disco, the book is not satisfactory: the nuns are undeveloped and Patina,
while making an impressive Broadway debut simply isn't enough to save whats wrong with it. And she did not make me forget Whoopi in the role. I found myself missing Whoopi in the role.

That's my opinion. Only my opinion. And we all have one.

So let the magic begin.

[roadmixer]

Posted: 4/20/11 at 4:34pm

Nobody said that the musical version of Sister Act purports to be an "improvement" on the movie. One is a MOVIE and one is a MUSICAL. Two very different mediums although sharing a namesake. As for being "derivative disco" you're missing the point... it is SUPPOSED to evoke the disco vibe and it succeeds. Maybe you haven't noticed but most of today's successful pop music (Katy Perry for example) is derivative and that's why it succeeds. People like things that remind them of something good. The book has an audience-engaging narrative arc befitting a piece which is only 2 hours long. The show doesn't attempt to be Les Miz. It would be pointless to further "develop" the character of individual Nuns or of Curtis' thugs because it wouldn't serve THE STORY which is of Deloris being brought together with Mother Superior. I believe that you are wrong regarding this show Goldenboy. So there.

[newintown]

Posted: 4/20/11 at 4:44pm

Actually, I think that a musical version of a movie should be more than just a chop-n-drop job (cut some dialogue to make room for songs - i.e. Shrek).

I think the team on this one really did try to make something slightly different from the movie, but, in my opinion, they ultimately failed by aiming way too low, and ended up with a piece of dry bread - rote, character-free, derivative, obvious.

Ms. Miller definitely tries her best, but two weeks ago I certainly felt that she was in slightly over her head; her voice was suffering, and she just couldn't cut through the flat material and let any star presence shine. She seemed like an adept understudy.

[Scripps2]

Posted: 4/20/11 at 5:01pm

When I saw Patina in London she gave the sort of performance that helps define what Broadway means: I too hope she gets the raves she deserves.

(and I hope they've sorted the book out as well)

[Katurian2]

Posted: 4/20/11 at 8:19pm

THR is up: http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/review/sister-act-theater-review-180739

"This enjoyable family-friendly musical adaptation's biggest draw is the brand she was instrumental in forging in the 1992 Touchstone movie and its sequel. But paradoxically, Goldberg is also a handicap here, demonstrating that hers are tough shoes to fill in a comedy."

[Jordan Catalano]

Posted: 4/20/11 at 8:19pm

No reviews yet?

[Katurian2]

Posted: 4/20/11 at 8:31pm

amNY: http://www.amny.com/urbanite-1.812039/theater-review-sister-act-3-stars-1.2829586


"So it’s a pleasure to find that “Sister Act,” a new adaptation of the 1992 Whoopi Goldberg film comedy, is energetic, hilarious and thoroughly enjoyable. In spite of a few issues, it has all the makings of a feel-good hit."

[theatreguy]

Posted: 4/20/11 at 8:36pm

And here's Talkin' Broadway:

hen a stage adaptation of a pre-existing work fizzles, it's typically because it hasn't adequately captured the spirit or the necessity of its source. Whether or not it's otherwise faithful to the original is usually an academic concern. With Sister Act, the new musical incarnation of the 1992 Hollywood comedy that just opened at the Broadway, the problem runs deeper. So much is the same, and yet so much is different, about Alan Menken, Glenn Slater, Cheri and Bill Steinkellner, and Douglas Carter Beane’s musical compared to the hit Whoopi Goldberg screen vehicle that it’s impossible to tell whether the adapters had any affection—or plan—for it at all. . . .

http://www.talkinbroadway.com/world/SisterAct.html

[BwayTday]

Posted: 4/20/11 at 8:40pm

^ I'm shocked.

Am I the only one who liked the set? It was the best set ever, but it certainly wasn't hideous. Sure, it was dark, but I didn't mind. I really liked the set changes when the arches of the church would pass over eachother. Updated On: 4/20/11 at 08:40 PM

[bwayfan7000]

Posted: 4/20/11 at 9:01pm

I thought the set with the turntables, the arches, and especially the church were very cool.